Catching Up: the End of Summer, Part I

It's been a while since my last post, so I thought I'd start with a summary view of some of the things we've been up to during the last days of summer.

All of our youngest poultry are now outside and fully adjusted to their new habitats. (Well, except for our juvenile ducks who still love to invite themselves in whenever the downstairs door is ajar!)

Dog food? We thought you said DUCK food!

Hi, it's us again! We'd like the orange bag please. 

Knock knock! We know you're in there!

Now on to chickens. We love all the beautiful and interesting colors our pullets and roos are developing as they feather out and continue to grow. Fully grown chickens look so different from what they looked like as baby chicks, so it's like watching a mystery unfold! And their personalities are all totally unique.

Exploring their new digs. Safety in numbers until they know it's safe!

Couldn't resist getting a shot of this chicken butt lineup! 

Romanoff always likes to stand IN the food plate. 

This is our German Bielefelder couple, Mr. & Mrs. Beasley. He also goes by Mister Mister.

The Motley Chicken Crew

Our three roos: Lewis, Angel, and Mister Mister.

Also, finally just the other day, for the first time, I witnessed Lewis practicing his crow. Previously I had only heard crows while they were all in the coop, so I didn't know for sure who it was. (Funny, just as I am typing now, I hear him practicing again outside!)

We also have another new addition to our farm! We recently watched Peter Rabbit on Netflix, and then by the end of that same week I came home to this new bunny.

Look at that adorable face!

Sunshine AKA Sunny Bunny

Sunny Chillin' 

This, of course is only a small tidbit of all the happenings that have taken place over the past few weeks, so I will label it "Part 1" of a series. Stay tuned to the next episode for Denali's visit to the Lowe's Halloween display, Jax in high places, and perhaps an update on my gardening adventures.

She Stuck a Feather in Her Cap and Called it Meriwether

We currently have 7 ducklings and 6 chicks growing up in our bathroom -- each in two separate Sterilite bins. The tub-o-chicks is in the bathtub, where we can shut the sliding door to keep them from flying all over the bathroom. (Especially important now that they are starting to grow out their feathers.) The ducklings tub is sitting right next to the tub. Magpies can't really fly, so they are much easier to contain.

Yesterday evening I was crouched down tending to our magpie ducklings when I looked up just in time to see one of our white-crested polish chicks fly straight up out of the bathtub to land directly on my head. "Well, this is a first!" I thought to myself. It was Meriwether, of course--our chief poultry explorer. Luckily, I happened to have my phone in my back pocket and was able to slowly reach for it and snap a photo to help document Meriwether's first flight to my noggin.

I say "first" flight, because it happened again this morning! When I opened the slider to peek in on the chicks and check on their food and water supply, Meriwether looked up and our eyes locked for one split second before my head once again became a helipad for Polish Airways. "This is going to be a very strange relationship," I laughed to myself. But I love it! I did have one small request: "Please don't poop on my head!" 

So, this afternoon, I tried to have the film rolling just in case it happened again. Sure enough, Meriwether took flight once again--but at least this time my head was spared. 

Polish Spies

It's a lot of work managing chicks and ducklings at the same time! Too young to be outside with the harsher elements, we currently have them in separate giant Sterilite tubs in our upstairs bathroom. 

We have three white crested Polish chicks (two black and one blue) among our current chick crew.  They were the first to start growing their wings (I was shocked by the wingspans on these little guys!!)...and they quickly set out exploring their surroundings. 

Meriwether was named after being found under a pile of ducklings during an early expedition: 

Now all three Polish chicks like to sit up on the ledge and spy on the ducklings (when we leave their door open). We named Meriwether's twin Lewis. Here they are peering over at their web-footed cousins:

Here is a picture of Angel peeking in with Lewis:

Lewis and Meriwether, again. Having a sidebar:

I am starting to wonder if we should have named them Statler and Waldorf...